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by LizzySong
Summary: The evacuation boats don't make it to land, and Alfred has to help Selina to safety while Jim insists upon helping Bruce find Jeremiah.


**Author's Note: I got a request on my tumblr to write something where the evacuation boats don't make it to land because of Jeremiah, and I ended up writing my version of season 5.**

 **Hope you like this first chapter! I'll update as soon as the next chapter's finished!**

"I'm afraid there's no way of knowing just how many bombs he might have planted around the city," Lucius said, sitting across from Jim and Bruce at a desk in the GCPD, "And without knowing the location of the core relay, it's extremely unlikely that we'll be able to disarm them."

"So we're back at square one," said Jim with a sigh. Bruce didn't speak at all, lost in thought. He didn't want to be sitting here, not when he'd stayed behind, breaking his promise to Selina, to protect the city.

Jim had insisted on bringing Bruce inside to join himself, Harvey, and Lucius when he'd learned that Alfred had gone to look after Selina. He wanted to keep the boy safe, knowing that he had a tendency to run towards danger, and reluctantly Bruce agreed, thinking that the GCPD would be the first place to get information on Jeremiah's whereabouts; but it still didn't feel right to be here while the city was literally going up in flames around him.

"Jesus!" came Harvey's voice suddenly from the captain's office at the top of the stairs, and Bruce felt his stomach sink even before he saw what the man was looking at.

The water looked like it was on fire, and Bruce stared in horrified silence for several moments before turning on his heel and sprinting for the entrance of the building.

"Bruce!" Jim yelled, running after the boy and catching him just before he reached the door, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"The--the boats!" Bruce said, desperately trying to squirm out of Jim's grasp.

"What about them?"

"Selina and Alfred were on one of them! I didn't go-- I wanted Selina to be safe -- I... It should've been me, I should've gone! It's my fault!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Jim tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder, "We don't know that they didn't make it to land. There's nothing you can do for them right now, so wait until we have all of the information."

"...I promised Selina I wouldn't leave her, but I did... I-- I shouldn't be here! I shouldn't have stayed in Gotham, I should've gone with her!"

"Bruce, calm down! This isn't your fault; Valeska's insane."

"It is my fault, though. I funded him. Without me he wouldn't have been able to build those bombs. I have to go. I have to make this right."

He was a strong kid, Jim thought, with strong morals and the understanding of the world of someone older -- but he was still a kid, and he was letting his emotions dictate his actions.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"If I can't stop you, then I'm going to help you."

It was strange to see Selina lying so still. Alfred had never known the girl to be quiet or calm, and though he'd sometimes hated having her around, and the way she had toyed with Bruce's feelings in the past, he missed her now.

He wished she were awake, cursing Bruce out for breaking his promise and insisting that they go back to the city.

It was quiet except for the consistent beeping of the monitor Selina was hooked up to, and the occasional splashing of the water up against the side of the boat. Then there was a deep rumbling that seemed to be coming from the bowels of the earth, and realizing what was about to happen, Alfred moved to sit next to Selina on the bed, holding her steady.

Suddenly the water exploded, rocking and in some cases, capsizing the evacuation boats, though Alfred managed to keep himself and Selina relatively steady, even as the furniture slid and fell around them.

They sat and waited for the waters to calm and the boat to stop rocking so ferociously. After several minutes, Selina slowly blinked open her eyes, looking up at the man who had been sent to protect her.

"...Al...fred...?" she asked, not yet fully coherent. She slowly turned her head to the side and saw the room in ruins around her. She knitted her eyebrows together slightly in confusion, "...Wha'... the hell...?"

Relief washed across the man's face as the girl came to consciousness. "You're okay," he said gently as Selina struggled to sit up. She couldn't manage it, and Alfred helped her, realizing that he'd soon have to tell her the truth about her diagnosis. Something he'd dreaded -- especially as he knew she would take it worse from him than she would have from Bruce.

"...Where's Bruce?" she asked, looking back at Alfred. There was a certain fierceness in her eyes, though it was also clear that she was sad.

Alfred broke eye contact with her and she nodded in understanding, turning away to hide the tears that had sprung to her eyes.

"...I wanna go back."

"Back where?"

"Back to Gotham. --I know it was evacuated, and I wanna go back."

"I don't think that's a wise decision, Miss Kyle."

"You tell that to Bruce when he decided to stay there instead of come with me?"

Again, Alfred didn't respond and Selina nodded. "That's what I thought," she said. "Come on," she added as she carefully pulled out her IV and tried, and failed, to bring her legs over the side of the bed.

She frowned in confusion and tried again. Her legs still didn't budge.

Before she could investigate further Alfred brought her out of her thoughts, "Miss Kyle, you just underwent a dangerous surgery, and you need to rest--"

"Screw that! Bruce needs me, and I told him I'd be there whenever he needed me. Just cause he broke his promise doesn't mean I'm gonna break mine."

"That may be so, but there's nothing you can do in Gotham at the moment. The best thing you can do for Master Bruce is stay safe."

"...What aren't you telling me? This is Bruce we're talking about. You always wanna help him. You've threatened me when you thought I was a problem -- why don't you want to help him now?"

She tried to bring her legs over the side of the bed again, and upon failing for the third time she looked back at Alfred. Trying to hide the fear in her eyes she asked, "...What's wrong with me? Wh--why can't I move my legs? Alfred, what's going on?"


End file.
